


Three to Tango

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 14:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4880578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t know why I'm friends with either of you.” He mumbled, drinking his beer.  “I barely made it through my teenage years the first time; I never want to go there again.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three to Tango

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as total crack and I laughed most of the time as I was typing it. I just like these three characters and hope they have more interactions in my head because it’s such an interesting dynamic.

“Alright, this is going to be my last one…I mean it this time.” Olivia laughed as the bartender lined up the three shot glasses.

“Don’t talk Sergeant, drink.” Rafael smiled at her. He picked up the double shot of vodka and the lemon wedge.

“What are we drinking to?” Trevor asked. He also picked up his double shot. He handed the extra wedge on his napkin to Olivia…she always preferred two.

“To a bad week, but a good weekend. Down the hatch!”

“Here, here.”

All three drank, sucked, and exhaled. Calling it a long week was actually an understatement. Rafael was in court on a teenage love affair gone horrible wrong. That was also Olivia’s case but this week alone she caught two sexual assaults and a case of a high school party where reckless behavior might end up getting more than a handful of kids in legal hot water. Trevor just found himself in the middle of one of the most contested child custody battles in the city since his client was the aunt, and de facto parent, of the mother. 

Old money, nouveau riche sensibilities, and scandal all combined for a tabloid’s dream and his nightmare. Divorce had never been his cup of tea. This was Friday, they'd all said fuck it and headed to a nearby bar. It was Smitty’s, it was 80s night, and the place was full of 30 and 40 somethings who hoped at the very least to drink their blues away. Early Depeche Mode came out of the speakers and the music transported each of the three sitting at the bar to a different time in their lives.

“One more, Liv,” Trevor held up his finger. “For the road.”

“Noooo,” she laughed. “I'm good, Counselor.”

“You can't call him Counselor.” Rafael said. “You call me Counselor.”

“Well it’s not the name on your birth certificate.” She hopped down from the bar stool with more enthusiasm than she felt. She was just the perfect amount of tipsy.

“I thought I was special.” Rafael pouted.

“You're not.” Trevor laughed.

“Oh stop.” Olivia laughed too. Then she caressed Rafael’s face. “You're my special Counselor. He's just my Trevor Counselor.”

“I don’t know if that makes me feel better.”

“Let him pout.” Trevor said. He reached over to rustle Rafael’s hair and ignored the ADA’s death glare. “It’s adorable.”

“It is. OK, I'm going…you boys be nice to each other. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Are you sure you're alright?” Rafael asked. “I could walk you out; make sure you get home alright.”

“I'm a big girl.” She smiled. “Slow down on the shots, I'm flagging you guys on beer only for the rest of the night.”

“Spoiled sport.” Trevor made a face.

“Cheap beer gets you drunk quicker.” Rafael mused.

“I didn’t get a Master’s Degree and a law degree to drink cheap beer in my 40s.”

“You got that Master’s from Penn State.”

“You snobby little…”

“Play nice.” Olivia said pointing at them. “I'm leaving, have a great night you guys.”

Rafael watched her work her way through the crowded room and to the door. It looked as if she stopped to talk to someone but then she was gone. The windows were frosted so he couldn’t see what she might be doing outside. Maybe he should go and check on her. It wasn’t altogether safe for her to walk around intoxicated on her own. She had a gun and knew how to use it but still.

“Two Jager bombs please.” Trevor held up two fingers for the bartender and got a nod in return. “You're pining.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Rafael tore his eyes away from the window and looked at his old friend.

“One, you're a lousy liar. Two, I wonder if you ever looked at me like that when I walked out of the room.”

“On advice of counsel, I'm invoking my fifth amendment right against self-incrimination.”

“You're really cute.” Trevor smiled.

“Did you mess up my hair?”

“Probably. Why don’t you just tell her?”

“Tell who what?” Rafael asked. He looked at the Jager bomb in front of him. This was probably going to hurt but tomorrow was Saturday. As usual, he planned to be at the office but didn’t have to be there until at least noon.

“Why do you act as if I don’t know you like I do?” Trevor countered with another question. “Pick up your drink.”

“What are we drinking to?”

“The awesome power of a Pennsylvania State University education.”

“We’re not.” Rafael shook his head.

“Drink!”

They took one last shot, both flagging the bartender at the same time. This time around they went for Samuel Adams. Trevor excused himself to the bathroom and Rafael tried to keep the rhythm to Prince. He succeeded only in his head. His phone beeped; he looked down on the bar at it. That was the first time he paid attention to it all night. Good company had been a nice distraction.

‘ _It’s raining_.’ –Olivia

He quickly typed out a response after looking around. Why did he assume she was still in the room with him or that someone was looking over his shoulder?

‘ _Where are you? Are you alright_?’ –Rafael

‘ _4th cab. Not the 4th cab I'm in but the 4th cab on the street. 2 passed me by_.’ –Olivia

‘ _Busy night I guess_.’ –Rafael

‘ _Did you kiss Trevor yet_?’ –Olivia

‘ _Please tell me you didn’t leave because you thought that was going to happen_.’ –Rafael

‘ _No. But since I did…_ ’ –Olivia

‘ _No, no, and no_.’ –Rafael

‘ _Are you going to_?’ –Olivia

‘ _I hope not_.’ –Rafael

‘ _Why_?’ –Olivia

‘ _Both of you need to stop. He's pushing me towards you, you're pushing me towards him…what gives_?’ –Rafael

‘ _He’s pushing you towards me_?’ –Olivia

‘ _Can we not talk about this? Anything but this_.’ –Rafael

“Did you get a work call?” Trevor was back, sitting down on the bar stool and grabbing his beer.

“It’s Olivia, wondering if I've kissed you yet.” Rafael held up his phone.

“Oh my god, really?” Trevor took it before Rafael could do anything.

“Don’t, Trevor, please.” He groaned.

‘ _Liv, its Trevor. Not going to happen. That ship has sailed_.’ –Trevor

“I hate you.” Rafael groaned.

“You don’t, be quiet.” 

‘ _You guys can talk later. We’re enjoying our last beer. Oh and he's pouting again_.’ –Trevor

Rafael snatched his phone back. It took all the decorum he had not to smack Trevor upside the head with it. What was happening? This was like 10th grade all over again, with cell phones.

‘ _Liv_?’ –Rafael

‘ _I'm here Counselor. Have fun, I'm about to be at home. Call me later_.’ –Olivia

‘ _OK, bye_.’ –Rafael

“I don’t know why I'm friends with either of you.” He mumbled, drinking his beer. “I barely made it through my teenage years the first time; I never want to go there again.”

“I'm sorry I took your phone.” Trevor said.

“Look at your eyebrows, you are in no way sorry. Look at them!”

“Rafi…” he put his hand on top of the ADA’s.

“Ohhh no, you are not going to use that soft voice and those blue eyes on me. Stop it. I'm not falling for it.”

“You're falling for it a little.” Trevor smiled. “It was immature, OK, there I said it. You're even more sensitive lately than usual. We can talk about it you know. Repressing your emotions leads to ulcers and wrinkles. I'm always here if you want to talk.”

“Why do you even like me?” he asked. It was a question he long pondered but rarely brought up. “Shouldn’t you be shunning me?”

“Over a breakup that happened over five years ago?” Trevor countered. “This is why people get ulcers and wrinkles, Rafi.”

Their breakup hadn’t been easy for either party. Rafael pulled the ‘it’s me not you’ and Trevor kicked him out of his apartment they'd practically been sharing for six months. It took a few days but Trevor called and said they needed to talk. He'd known for a few months, and had been ignoring the signs, that it was all heading for a brick wall. Rafael was a smart, loving, attractive, pain in the ass of a man. He drove Trevor crazy in all the best ways. 

He was also a mess. To add fuel to the inferno, Rafael wasn’t out at the time. Sometimes Trevor thought he might not even be out to himself in so many ways. It wasn’t always easy in the beginning but he was able to turn that potential for intimate love into a more fraternal thing. Mostly it was just difficult not to love Rafael once you already did. And though they'd fallen into bed a few times over the years since the breakup, neither let it affect the strong friendship built from its ashes.

“I've never stopped adoring you.” 

“I know you haven’t, which is one of the reasons why we’re still friends. Don’t get all sentimental on me Barba…drink.”

Rafael smiled and did what his friend said. He pushed a fallen strand of hair from his forehead, took a deep breath, and decided to say something. Thirty seconds later he changed his mind. A minute or so after that, as Trevor was finishing his beer, Rafael changed it again.

“Do you want one more?” Trevor asked, waving for the bartender. “This will be my last, it’s time to put the cap on this week.”

“She intrigues me.” Rafael replied.

“Olivia?”

“Yes.”

“She's an amazing woman. She's a lot like you in some ways but not enough that dishes would fly if things turned sour. I think you two would be a good match but what do I know, I just have a Masters from Penn State.”

“I'm never going to live that down, am I?” Rafael rolled his eyes.

“No, probably not.” Trevor shook his head. He grabbed his wallet from his back pocket. “We’ll get a cab together so I can kiss your temple and no one has to see.”

“You're a real smartass.” 

“Phillips Exeter and don’t you forget it.”

“You never, ever, ever let me.”

***

Rafael waved goodnight and leaned back in the seat as the cab pulled off. He pulled his cell phone from his inside jacket pocket, looking at it. Calling her probably wasn’t the best idea. It was only quarter to ten though so she wouldn’t be asleep. It'd be better if he knew what he was going to say but falling back on the old checking on you routine would have to do.

“I was hoping you’d call.” Olivia said instead of hello.

“You were?”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you tonight. I was being tipsy and silly. If I hurt your feelings, I am so, so sorry.”

“I'm fine.” He said.

“Are you sure?”

“I'm sure. I was calling to check on you.” It fell a little flat but as usual Olivia took control of the conversation and Rafael scrambled to get it back.

“I ordered a pizza.” She said. “I was starving when I got in. _Sunset Boulevard_ is about to come on TCM…I'm going to try to stay up for it.”

“I love _Sunset Boulevard_.”

“Come over and watch it with me, Counselor.”

“Do you think…?”

“Don’t think,” Olivia said. “Come over and watch it with me.”

“I'm on my way.” He said.

“Good.”

“By the way, it’s not Trevor that I want to kiss; it’s you. It’s been you for a while now.”

“I know.”

“You know?” there wasn’t going to be enough time to pick up the pieces of Rafael’s blown mind.

“We both knew.”

“We…?”

“Trevor and I.” Olivia replied.

“I'm beginning to get the feeling that I've been duped. His damn eyebrows…I knew he was lying.”

“What?”

“Nevermind, that’s a long story.”

“Are you upset?” She asked.

“Alcohol may be preventing the gravity of the situation from falling completely on my shoulders. I’ll see you in a little while and we may talk about it.”

“Alright. Bye.”

Rafael hung up and gave the cab driver a change of address. This was going to be one of the most expensive rides he'd ever taken in the city. He was sure it was worth every nickel. Just one more text and his phone was going away for the rest of the night.

‘ _Hey, you jerk, I know what you did and I love you. Also, your eyebrows never lie_.’ –Rafael

‘ _Good luck, Rafi. Love you too and my eyebrows are perfect_.’ –Trevor

***


End file.
